Sonondegradation of organophosphorus pesticides in water

Organophosphorus pesticides (OPPs), such as diazinon and malathion, are widely found in water resources. When absorbed by human organisms, OPP s are very toxic mainly because they deactivate acetyl cholinesterase. In the present study, the degradation of diazinon and malathion was investigated. The experiments were conducted for diazinon concentrations of 100, 300, 500 μg/dm3 and malathion concentrations of 200,400,600 μg/ dm3. Sonochemical examination was done using an ultrasonic reactor at 130 kHz and 500 NW for five times, and then the amount of the pesticide in a sample was measured by the gas chromatography with a flame ionization detector (GC-FID).The highest degradation of malathion and diazinon by the sonolysis process occurred at pH 9 and 3, respectively. The study demonstrates that malathion and diazinon could be effectively degraded by ultrasonic irradiation.